Kevin: Jim,

Since Mike Martz has not been coaching the Rams for almost two years, do you think John Shaw is starting to scrutinize how well his front office works together and is performing? The Ram's subpar performance can not be blamed on Martz any longer. Granted, Linehan deserves a good part of the scrutiny but so does Jay Z. and his cohorts. It takes a team to win and lose.

Kevin
PS Jim, how is your son doing at West Point?

Jim Thomas: Well, with Charley Armey now retired, the front office consists basically of Jay Zygmunt and Samir Suleiman. Tony Softli, who heads the personnel department, provides scouting and evaluation info on players, but has next to no say in who actually gets signed. Shaw and Zygmunt have been together now for more than a quarter of a century. Whether right or wrong, Shaw has the utmost confidence in Zygmunt.

Son doing fine at West Point. He's taking Arabic, playing club football, he's the "saw gunner" or machine gunner for his squad.

Wildwood Curt: As Jim Haslet mentioned recently, our defensive philosophy is predicated on attacking an offense that is playing catch-up to the powerful St. Louis Rams offense (a la The Greatest Show on Turf). That is, we're a tad small at some key positions. As a result, with our impotent offense, this defense is getting mauled in the second half. Unless something changes on the offensive side, we are in for a long, long season. Agreed?

Jim Thomas: WC--I was talking to an agent earlier this morning who represents several Tampa players. They told him they had no problem moving out Adam Carriker and that blocking La'Roi Glover was like "moving" a linebacker. I don't know if the Rams defensive philosophy is "predicated" on playing with a lead, but the nature of the personnel certainly is built for playing with a lead. And the Rams haven't led by more than six points all season. I do agree that unless the offense wakes up, we're looking at a top 10 pick on draft day.

Roy: WOE, WOE, WOE is me. I had visions of sugar plums dancing in my head listening to all the pre-season hype about our offense, now its like the Grinch, [Olsen] has stuffed my sock with a big lump of coal, Jim, this is very serious, what can and must be done to salvage some respectability and fun from the remaining 13 games that we have left?

Jim Thomas: No matter what the injury situation, the Rams can't play scared. They must attack opposing defense, not react to them. The key is getting all of the playmakers involved. Who says you can't stick to the run, while also taking shots downfield. They're not mutually exclusive.
I'd also like to see the defense take more chances. Yes, they're playing better. But on that field goal drive that gave Tampa a 3-0 lead at halftime, the Rams let Tampa off the hook on two third-and-10 plays without blitzing. Why not blitz? Take some chances. After all how much worse than it get than Lose, Lose, Lose?

Ray: Jim,

The Bucs reportly gave defensive game balls to Jermaine Phillips, Barret Ruud, and Scott Linehan. They felt that the Rams coach did as much to limit his offense as anyone in a Bucs uniform. Let's see, you have a Pro Bowl quarterback, two Pro Bowl receivers, and you decide throwing downfield is a silly idea? Good luck with that philosophy, Coach.

Jim Thomas: Actually, you're paraphrasing what was written by a columnist in the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times newspaper. The columnist saracastically gave Linehan a game ball for helping the Bucs win with his conservative game plan. I thought it was interesting that the veteran Tampa Bay writers were as befuddled by the Rams' reluctance to throw the ball downfield as the St. Louis media. It was almost as if the Rams thought John Lynch, Shelton Quarles, Warren Sapp, Simeon Rice, and Booger McFarland were still playing in Tampa, and still in their prime.

Steve Roberts: What is the situation with Marc Bulger's ribs? Marc was definitely on target against the 9ers but he seemed like a totally different player against the Bucs, uncomfortable in the pocket, weak on his throws and unsure of his reads. With this offensive line I understand his position but if he isn't healthy, I'd rather see Gus Frerotte give it a shot.

Jim Thomas: Last week in a story about Bulger, I wrote that he didn't want to know (from team medical officials) if his ribs were broken or just bruised, that he was playing anyway. But that he was concerned enough that he was even trying acupuncture to help ease the pain.
There's a fine line between being a tough guy, and taking one for the team, and actually hurting the team by playing injured. With two broken ribs, Bulger should have sat against Tampa. That's why Frerotte is here.
In a way, this reminds me of the situation late in the 2002 season when Kurt Warner played against Philadelphia with a broken hand, leading to the first "Brenda-gate" controversy.